Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz Named to Board of Trustees of National Education Organization

BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- City Year, an education-focused national service organization, has named former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz to its national Board of Trustees.  Diaz, currently Senior Partner at Florida law firm Lydecker Diaz, is known for his transformational tenure as mayor and his service as former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  He played a leadership role in the founding of City Year Miami in 2008. 

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"Students—here in Miami and across the country—need to know that someone is in their corner and invested in their success," said Diaz.  "City Year Corps members make that investment with their time, their passion, and their idealism.  There is no other organization in the country like City Year—they're having a huge impact on students and schools."

During his two-term tenure as mayor, Diaz was recognized for implementing many innovative programs in the areas of urban design, sustainability, education, infrastructure investment, affordable housing, law enforcement, poverty and homelessness, and arts and culture.  He recently served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics, and he is the author of Miami Transformed: Rebuilding America One Neighborhood, One City at a Time (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012).

"Manny Diaz is a one-man tour de force.  He knows what our cities need, he knows what our young people need and he knows the remarkable impact a team of City Year corps member can have," said City Year CEO and Co-Founder, Michael Brown.  "He will surely add tremendous value to our work keeping at-risk students across the country in school and on track to graduation.  We are very honored he has joined our board."

Founded in 1988, City Year partners with public schools to help students and schools succeed.  In 24 communities across the United States and through two international affiliates, this innovative public-private partnership brings together teams of AmeriCorps members who commit to a year of full-time service in schools.  Trained corps members support students by focusing on the early-warning indicators that research shows can predict which students are most likely to drop out of school: poor attendance, behavior, and course performance.  Using evidence-based practices, corps members provide in-class tutoring and mentoring, and run after school programs to help students and schools succeed. 

"Manny Diaz is an accomplished leader who will undoubtedly help the organization to continue grow its impact across the country," said Stephen G. Woodsum, the Chair of the City Year, Inc. Board and a Founding Managing Director of Summit Partners.

The City Year Board of Trustees is a volunteer board that provides strategic direction for the organization on multiple fronts. As a board member, Diaz will contribute to the organization's efforts to scale the number City Year AmeriCorps members serving in high-need urban and increase their impact. 

Diaz is the recipient of nearly 100 awards and recognitions including: America's Best Leaders by US News and World Report and The Center for Public Leadership (Kennedy School of Government); the Urban Innovator of the Year by the Manhattan Institute; and the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research-Annual Urban Leadership Award.

He is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council of the US Department of Homeland Security and serves as Vice-Chairman of the Town Square Neighborhood Development Corporation Board of Directors and is a member of the Board of the Bloomberg Family Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Urban Research, the Miami Foundation, the League of Conservation Voters, Urban Land Institute Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use, the Mayors' Institute on City Design, the National Environmental Education Foundation, the Florida After School Network, the advisory boards for the Manhattan Institute's Center for Civic Innovation, the Sustainable Cities Institute, U.S. Green Building Council- South Florida Chapter; Project 2050, the Florida Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and the Florida Steering Committee for The Children's Movement of Florida.

City Year's national Board of Trustees includes some of the nation's foremost leaders in business, service and education.  For a complete list of the City Year Board of Trustees, please visit the City Year Board of Trustees website.

About City Year: City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization founded in 1988 that partners with public schools to provide full-time targeted intervention for students most at risk of dropping out.  In more than 20 communities across the United States and through two international affiliates, our teams of young AmeriCorps leaders support students by focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance through in-class tutoring, mentoring, and after school programs that keep kids in school and on track to succeed.

SOURCE City Year